Lisca and Khiran did not jump apart or blush. They stopped kissing and settled into each other as if Lisca had been made to stand in Khiran’s arms, their child at her shoulder.
Del looked over at Reyn. “Well, since nobody is doing the honors, I’ll introduce myself. I’m Del, Khiran’s brother. I take it you are Lady Reyn Callan?”
Before Reyn could respond, Lisca jumped in with an apology. “I forgot you hadn’t met before. It seems like you should all know each other.” She frowned and looked back up at Khiran. “Have you met Reyn before?”
He shook his head. “Merine told me about her, but we left Sintal before she made her debut at court, remember? You met her before that because you are Merine’s friend and a lady.”
Lisca sighed. “I will never understand all the restrictions Moialans place on men and women interacting with each other.”
“You can’t forget that we are also bastards,” Del pointed out. “Hardly the type of gentlemen a duchess would want to introduce to her daughter.”
Reyn winced.
Del turned to her with wide eyes. “No offense to your mother, of course. By all accounts, she is a far kinder woman than my own.”
“But you are right,” Reyn admitted. “She wouldn’t have wanted Merine to introduce me to either of you. She would have been polite if we ran into you at court, and she’d say she doesn’t hold the circumstances of your birth againstyou, but what else is it if she deems you unworthy because your parents weren’t married?”
To her surprise, Khiran laughed again. “Imagine her reaction if our parents had been married? Do you think it would be better or worse in her mind for a man to have children with two different wives—at the same time—than two women he hadn’t married?”
Reyn blinked. She had forgotten that Khiran and Del had different mothers, though she knew Khiran’s was a succubus and Del’s was a noblewoman. They looked and sounded so much like brothers that it was hard to remember they were only half-siblings. She couldn’t help but try to imagine her mother’s response to the king’s brother marrying both women.
“Which of you is older?” She asked after a moment.
“Del beat me into the world by just over a month.”
“Hmm, well, that’s close enough that I guess the timing could go either way. I think, if His Highness had married your mother first, Khiran, my mother might accept him marrying Del’s mother, too. I know it horrifies her when gentlemen get ladies pregnant and then move on, leaving the women’s reputations in ruins. And since one could argue that His Highness had broken no vows if both women became pregnant before any marriages . . .” Reyn shrugged. “All right, so I don’t think she’d actually approve of any of it, but I think it would be possible to make her doubt her convictions slightly.”
“But if their father had married the lady first, you don’t think she would support a second marriage to a succubus?” Lisca asked.
Honestly, Reyn could hardly imagine her mother ever approving of a man taking two wives, but it would be interesting to make the argument about protecting a lady’s reputation and see how the duchess responded. She had no illusions whatsoever that her mother would ever support a man marrying a succubus when he already had a noble wife, though. “No. She wouldn’t object to a gentleman marrying a succubus, but in this odd case involving two marriages, I think the only way to convince her would be to argue that it is the only way to save the lady’s reputation. And a succubus does not have a lady’s reputation in need of saving.”
“But couldn’t you argue that the marriage is to save the child’s reputation?” Del asked.
Reyn shook her head. “Like I said, my mother thinks she doesn’t hold the sins of the parents against children.”
“How does that work?” Khiran asked.
Reyn paused, thinking over how to explain her mother. She didn’t want to give a false impression; Duchess Tamina was a generous and kind woman, but she had blind spots.
“You don’t have to answer. I shouldn’t have asked.”
“No, it’s fine. I want to answer; I was just searching for the right words.” Reyn hummed, thinking. “After you left Moial, Merine sponsored an orphanage on the outskirts of Sintal. Did you know that? Mama was so proud of her for using her influence for such a worthy cause.”
Reyn met everyone’s eyes in turn. “She was supportive. Not just of Merine, but of the orphanage. She still is the primary donor, I think. And Mama doesn’t just make sure the children have food and apprenticeships. She gives them toys and insists they should have time to play every day.”
Reyn looked at Marseo and remembered the children, no older than him, abandoned and taken in by the orphanage. “Mama pressures other nobles to donate, but she doesn’t see that there wouldn’t be as many orphans if attitudes in Moial changed. She thinks it is a shame when a mother chooses to give up her child, but doesn’t recognize that it is attitudes like hers regarding morality that push unwed mothers to do such a thing.”
That topic was one of the few things Reyn had ever seen Merine argue with Duchess Tamina over. Arguing was perhaps overstating things, though. Merine had politely disagreed with Tamina, then less politely vented her frustration—with Reyn as her only audience—later that evening.
“She doesn’t blame the children,” Reyn concluded, “but she supports the system that puts those children at a disadvantage.”
And her mother was still a better person than her, Reyn realized. Reyn believed the right things, she liked to think, but she didn’t act on them. What mattered more to children, having a safe place to sleep and a full belly, or having a person who believed they shouldn’t be orphaned, but who did not act on that conviction? Reyn never hesitated to help Merine with her projects, but without her, what did she do? Nothing.
Reyn glanced at Marseo again. He dozed in his mother’s arms, a content smile on his lips. Lisca sported a similar expression, and Reyn realized Khiran must be using his lure to protect them from her roiling emotions. She wished she could do something like that, instead of attracting men she wanted nothing to do with.
Even if she learned to use her lure—if she had one—would she ever do anything meaningful with her power? She hated to admit it, but she suspected she wouldn’t. She had only come to Lhanaperi in search of answers because she wanted to stop attracting men when she didn’t want their attention. Well, she wouldn’t mind knowing how to lure them on purpose, too.
Maybe Lord Velario had been right to question why she wanted to watch Marseo for the day. Reyn wanted to be helpful, but would she have volunteered without knowing a maid would be with them and able to handle anything unpleasant?
